


How To Make Tags For a Story

by Mysterie



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: A03 Tags, Tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-25 13:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13836135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterie/pseuds/Mysterie
Summary: Understanding the Tag Function on A03 (and other websites).





	1. What Are Tags and Uses

**Author's Note:**

> Someone actually made a tag on a story they were doing that said someone should do this... so I thought... why not? I sincerely hope that anyone who reads this finds this informative.

Let's jump right into this shall we?

 

**What Are Tags?**

 

Tags are words used to describe a piece of work without actually spoiling the story. They can describe a chapter's events or even the overall arch of the story piece itself.

 

**What Are Tags For?**

 

They can be used in a number of ways. The first, and obvious, function is to inform the reader of what kind of content they can expect to encounter, whether it be something as simple as "daily life" or perhaps as complex as "action/adventure/romance" which would tell the reader to expect all of those in the story itself. 

 

A second function is that they help readers find like stories by typing such phrases into a search bar. The search bar will always look for any tag that contains the words typed in as well as those that are similar to. For instance, if one were to type in "Once Upon A Time romance" the search bar would look for tags with that exact phrasing, followed by any story that happened to also have any or all of the combinations of those words. Of course the further one goes down the list of results the less likely it is the story will contain all of the exact wording entered in the search box. Most websites that include written works, like AO3, utilize this function in searches to come up with what the reader would like to view. AO3 is not the first site, nor likely the last, to use tags in this manner.

 

As Author Notes. Some authors are unused to using tags and sometimes put in things such as "may later contain 'x' " simply because they are unsure of whether or not the story will actually contain that element while they are still writing it. While this is an incorrect use of tags in general, it's not an uncommon thing to run across at some point. 


	2. How Do I Make A Successful Tag? Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Choosing the "write" tags.   
> (yes i made a pun)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad Tags & examples

How to make a successful tag, that's sometimes a lot of work; however, it's not as much work as many perceive it to be. There are good tags and bad tags, there are mediocre ones and ones that just make the reader wonder what the author was thinking. There are also others that scream "i'm a novice!" by what they have to say. 

 

**Bad Tags**

 

Let's get this one over with first. The reason a tag is bad can be for a number of reasons. Firs and foremost, it might say too much about the inexperience of the author. 

 

examples of this are:

so you know that 'x' tag i added

the usual

uhhh

mhm

about that... 

but it's novice... 

 

The reasons that the above are bad are sometimes not obvious, so I will go over them. The first example isn't a tag at all, it's a direct comment from the author themselves to the reader that can indicate they had a direction they were going with the story but it might have changed somewhere along the way and, instead of making an Author's Note at either the beginning or ending of a chapter to express such change they have just dumped it there in hopes that the reader will understand. Authors who have done so in the past understand this, but those who are not very experienced in literature or who are new to AO3 may not have any understanding of what is meant until too late.

Such comments should be left in the spaces available both before or after a chapter. Not, however, in the chapter summary itself. Chapter summaries are just that, meant to inform the reader of the chapter's happenings, not house Author's Notes. Such things should be kept in the "Chapter Notes" sections only. A section that appears upon clicking the correct selection. I have provided an example of where such appear by checking the "at the end" for this chapter.

 

Now, let's look at the second example. "the usual." A writer cannot be any more vague than by using those two words. While most audiences looking at their story might very well have expectations for their piece and understand what they mean, these two words are actually very harmful as tags because to someone who is new to a fandom or any fictional piece done by this author, may have no idea what "the usual" is. A good writer knows to never use these words because while it is expected of veterans to know what is meant, it is a severe disservice to those who are coming in new. A good writer must always cater to both new and old readers and thus should, under no circumstances, ever use this as a tag.

 

The third and fourth examples of "uhhhh" and "mhm" are very similar. These aren't tags and simply show the inexperience of the writer. Not just in utilizing the tag function but over all. It comes off as "juvenile" in the fact that it makes it seem like the author doesn't even know what the story is about that they are writing. Any tag that isn't actually something to describe the work about to be read can be considered to be in this category; most especially ones that come off as noises instead of actual words.

 

The fifth example is another one that speaks about the author's inexperience. A story can change from moment to moment or chapter to chapter and the original intent of the author, if the work isn't updated within at least a week or so in time frame might very well eventually be lost if the writer doesn't actually continue writing the story. Thus a plot point meant to be made in future chapters could vanish from their mind. The tag "about that..." indicates that they meant for something to be in the story at some point and, for any number of reasons, it doesn't happen or hasn't in the current chapters. Needless to say, such a tag has no place existing; even if a work changes there is no need to add something like that as a tag. If an author feels that they should notify their readers of changes, such should be done via Author Notes in the "Chapter Notes" sections.

 

"but it's novice..." Whatever follows this is not going to be viewed in a good light. This is the author's way of down-grading their own work. This speaks of a lack of experience and - often - a lack of confidence in their skills as a writer. Every writer has their day where they stumble upon a style or type of writing that they are unfamiliar with how to proceed with maximum success. Stating that they are in the stage of being a novice to such a style or type is actually very harmful. No one wants to read anything that even the writer thinks is sub-par. 

All in all, the only thing a tag like that is doing is harming the writer and guaranteeing that a lot of those who see it will likely not want to actually read it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an example of where Author's Notes and other notations should go that come from the Author themselves; even when addressing their readers.


	3. How Do I Make A Successful Tag? Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making good tags

Now that you know what not to do, let's get on with what a writer should be doing.

 

**Good Tags**

 

Good tags are ones that are usually short, but informative. They tell the reader what to expect from a story without actually giving it away. Such examples of this are as follows:

 

Romance/Smut/Action/Adventure

bad language/cursing

implied/referenced ... 

Reader is/has/isn't .... 

AU/Alternate Universe/AUs/AUS/Alternate Universes

Possessive/Jealous/Overbearing/Bara.... 

 

As before, I will go over each of these examples and why they are good. 

 

The first example should be clear to any author why they are good, these types of tags tell the reader what sort of story they are about to read. Often refereed to as a genre. Every story ever told falls into at least one genre and one or more sub-genres. I use the term "sub-genre" here as an indication of a genre that might be included in a story, such as smut (explicit sex) being involved in a romance story, but that is not the main focus of the story itself. It is very common that a story has at least one, if not several, sub-genres that appear. 

 

The second example is like a secondary warning from the author. Some people are sensitive to certain topics. The warning "bad language" tells a reader what to expect from at least one of the characters present in the story itself, if not more. There are other such tags like "rape" or "abuse" that might be triggers for some readers and authors who know what they are doing are aware of this and thus put such tags to warn readers that the material they are about to read will contain these issues.

 

"Implied/Referenced" is a more mild version of the previous example. It is often used when a story touches upon subjects that are high sensitive in nature; usually abuse or rape. Those are not the only use for such tags, however, and they can be used in a lighter tone such as "implied romance" for characters that may seem to be romantic towards each other in a story that doesn't revolve around romance. It should be noted that these two tags are used for only when a subject is talked about by a character or hinted at through subtle actions but never outright ever stated by any character nor actually takes place in the story itself.

 

The next example involves the Reader. This is a common practice where the audience is meant to put themselves in place of a character in the story itself and to consider the actions and events to be meant to be experiences they can understand and know. This is a touchy thing to do because it targets a select group in the audience as no person will ever react exactly the way as the author might word and might think or act completely contrary to a situation than what the author says. Tags like this one, however, inform the reader what to expect as it gives them an idea as what sort of role they may or may not be expected to take on in the story. 

 

AU, anyone who is in any fandom should be at least aware of the term 'Alternate Universes' if not actually intimately aware of it. The term means exactly what it says, it is a universe that is different from the original that was created by someone else. This happens a lot in fandoms where a story the author wants the audience to believe is plausible but is either contradictory to the original theme/story line/characters of said fandom or simply that the author wishes to have creative freedom to do as they please in their story and not be confined by pre-set standards. There is not a single fandom that has ever been created that does not have at least one AU at some point, whether documented or not. There is nothing wrong with AUs and this tag is very informative to the reader. 

 

The last example is a bit of a unique one. As an author myself, I have found this is a type of tag not used very often but should be used more. These tags often express personality traits that can either be canon or non-canon to a specific character that is within the story. For those who aren't very familiar with a fandom, such tags can be like little flags letting the reader to know what to expect from a certain character. This sort of tag isn't usually necessary for a character who stays true to their canon personality and is used usually to denote a character who breaks their usual personality for any number of reasons. 

 

These are just a few examples of good tags. There are many more that were not included, but will be mentioned in the chapter to come.


	4. How Do I Make A Successful Tag? Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Know your story, know your tags

**How Do I Make A Successful Tag?**

 

This question is the theme of the last two chapters and this one. To start to answer this one, the author must know their story. This is crucial in making a successful tag. 

 

First, what kind of story is being written? Romance? Adventure? Horror? Knowing what type will be a successful tag as was stated in the previous chapter, but that's not all. Knowing what kind of story is being written can help a writer also make other tags to go along for it.

 

For example, someone writing a romance/action story may also come up with the following tags:

love, dating, family, friends, drama, tension

 

And depending on the actual action of the story such other tags might include:

 

kidnapping, robbery, injury, accident, disabled, disability, illness

 

Knowing the story that is being written is key to writing great tags that will help the reader know what is about to happen before it even happens. A word of caution though, putting too much detail or making things too wordy might make a reader think twice and such tags like "reader is in accident" should be avoided. 

Successful tags give away what might happen in the story, but avoid saying who or what actually happens. The point of a tag is to entice the audience to read, not spell the story out for them.

 

Now that you know what sort of tags to use, you're almost ready to begin!

 


	5. Other Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Other Questions about tags and other related functions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have a question that is not addressed in this section, please feel free to ask and I shall update this chapter with a response

**Do I Have To Know All My Tags When Making a New Story?**

Absolutely not! Anyone who tells you otherwise has obviously never started a story fresh on a site like AO3. It is perfectly acceptable to add tags as a story is formed. As long as the tags that are put state things that are relevant to the story itself, it doesn't matter when they are added. 

 

**Shouldn't I Put As Many Tags As I Can?**

Yes and no. Yes you should put at least four or five tags about a story that is just beginning to help keep you in the write direction, no it is not a requirement. Some authors don't add tags until the story is half way finished or even completed due to not knowing the direction they are taking their story. 

Also, too many tags can make a reader feel overwhelmed with information. Especially if it turns out there's a tag that becomes irrelevant because whatever the tag says never actually has relevance to the story itself. It is best to keep tags to a minimum. Not only so not to intimidate readers, but also to not give too much away. 

Collecting tags on a story should not be like collecting likes on Youtube or "collecting friends" on Facebook. There's no point in having so many and it is never a requirement to even add tags. The main point of tags is for search use for readers who wish to find a story with a certain element. 

 

**So I Know About Tags Now, What About That Space For Characters? Is That A Must?**

I have to say yes to this one. The reason I do is, again, for the search function. Those who come to this site looking for stories will often find them first by typing in characters they know, even if they don't know the fandom they come from at the moment they are searching them out. The more characters you list in the characters slot the better. It not only gives the reader a wonderful look at the cast that you have in store for them at one point or another in the story, but also helps the reader to know what to expect as sometimes there are exchanges between characters that only makes sense by knowing the character. 

This sort of thing usually comes to play most often in crossovers. 

 

**What Is A Crossover And How Do I Apply It In Tags?**

 

A Crossover is a story that takes a made universe by one author and merges it in some way with a completely different universe.

 

An example of this would be Star Wars and Eve Online. The two universes here are similar in that they are science fiction, but the story lines for each has different elements that are not found in the other. For Star Wars, they have character types known as Jedi who can use an invisible power called The Force, for Eve Online they have pilots, called Capsulers, who get into a pod and control the movements of a single space craft and have the ability to "live forever" by uploading their consciousness to a perfect clone of themselves upon death. 

Normally these two universes would never have any contact with each other, a crossover between the two and the reason for it would be explained in the story itself. 

A good way to apply it to tags is by actually using "crossover" as a tag and stating which universes will be interacting. This can be done in several ways. Using the example from above for this one, such tags include:

Star Wars Universe

Eve Online (game)

Star Wars/Eve Online

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope that this has been informative for you. Remember to leave any comments or questions you have! I'll try to get to any questions for this section as quickly as possible. All other questions (not related to this subject matter) will be addressed in the comments themselves. Thanks for taking the time to read this!


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